The Lion and the Little Red Bird

28Jun

My older sister, Lisa, and brother-in-law, Nick, visited the other day with my baby nephew. Recently, Lisa had picked up a container of old baby and children’s books that we had in the garage, and she had found a particular book that had been my favorite as a child:

My face lit up when Lisa came over and said, “Hey, we found this in with the other books and I remembered how much you loved it–” I cut her off with a hug. She started laughing, then looked to Nick and said, “See?”

The story is simple, revolving around a little bird who wonders how and why a lion’s tail changes color every day. Elisa Kleven was the author of the book and the illustrator of the gorgeous and vivid pictures in the book. The artwork was my favorite aspect of the book and, even now, it’s difficult not to get lost in the swirling colors. The sample pages on the Amazon link up above don’t nearly do it justice.

The book is now tucked in my bookshelf after being gone for years. I had originally thought that it had been given away ages ago as opposed to just being packed away in the garage’s attic. Having it back is like discovering a lost treasure. The story and illustrations of that book may have very well been the start of my love of reading and art.

Any of you have a book, or even something else, tucked away from childhood that helped shape your interests today? What was your “first” favorite book?

I don’t think I’ve ever read Where the Wild Things Are…. That’s so weird considering how much of a classic it is! As for Big Red, my first thought was Clifford the Big Red Dog series, haha! I know Big Red is an entirely different book, but Clifford was a series I frequently read as a child. Thanks for sharing!

My “first” favorite book was probably A Rose, a Bridge, and a Wild Black Horse by Charlotte Zolotow. I have a copy of it now (my original did go missing during a move), but it’s a re-print and the artwork isn’t the same having a different illustrator. It doesn’t hold the same magic as the copy I grew up with, but I still love the fact that it’s about a brother and everything he’d do for his younger sister to make her happy.